Personal Account of Coronavirus

April 15, 2020

Personal Account of Coronavirus pandemic.

By: Brenna Armstrong

My days are beginning to blur together, even more so than they were when the country was first put on the Stay At Home order. It has been a long process adjusting to the way things are now. I am getting more and more concerned that we will spend the rest of this year in fear of this pandemic.

I wish boredom was the only problem I had to deal with. Instead, I have had to face some of my extended family being infected with the virus, as well as my education, being severely affected by all of the changes being made. I have never been that great at doing online course work and now that all of my classes have been formatted this way due to the virus, I am finding it even more difficult. As of late, it seems that things will certainly get worse before they get better.

Aside from my own issues, the pandemic has put a strain on my family as well. Both of my parents have lost their jobs and are now having to rely on government assistance to maintain their individual households along with paying for my school and other expenses. My mother and father are both putting on a brave face and attempting to remain positive as in their words “there is nothing else to do but wait, might as well make the best of it.”

My closest friends are also being affected by the pandemic, most of us are college students and have had our entire sping semester hijacked and replaced with the stay at home orders and online classes. Graduation ceremonies across the country are being postponed or altogether canceled, people have been forced to move from their on-campus dorms, many do not have the resources needed to keep up with their new online work.

Personally many of my plans for this semester had to postponed or rearranged to accommodate the new situation. I am, however, somewhat grateful for the time and space to slow down and relax with the pressure of daily life with a solid routine. I have been very fluid in this transition and manage to take care of myself and handle my business without feeling overwhelmed or pressured.

I have learned to take everything one day at a time, but to still be purposeful in the things I do every day. While I may not have a set schedule for the day to day life, I still manage to keep a sense of normalcy of this time of transition. I have noticed that I turn out better work like this even if there is a slight strain on my routine. However, I believe it is important to be empathetic to those who might be struggling or even just being affected differently through this time period. It will allow everyone to be more patient and kind to one another while we wait and see what this future holds for us.